Fracture
by theLOSTpassenger
Summary: Set between the episodes "Lifesigns" and "Investigations" of the TV series, Chakotay struggles to understand the recent inappropriate behavior of Paris.


Commander Chakotay traversed down a corridor of Voyager on his way to the brig, determined to get to the bottom of why Lieutenant Tom Paris, Senior Helmsman of Voyager, had been behaving so inappropriately lately, to the point at which he had pushed Chakotay to the floor a couple of days ago, absolutely unacceptable behavior. He had been doing the best that he could to tolerate Paris's being late to his shifts, to meetings, and so forth, but that was unacceptable, and apparently, Captain Janeway had thought so, too, since it had been she who had decided to confine Paris to the brig. He had already been there for two days, and the last that Chakotay had spoken to Janeway about him, she said that he still wasn't adjusting his attitude.

Chakotay, at last, stood in front of Paris's cell, which was secured by a force field. Paris sat, not looking pleased or satisfied but not regretful or remorseful, either. His head was down, but when he noticed that Chakotay was there, he looked up at him, his eyes conveying nothing but intensity, an intensity that Chakotay couldn't quite place. Anger, perhaps?

There was a long silence that lasted about thirty seconds or so, and finally, Chakotay broke it.

"I hear that some time here hasn't done you much good," Chakotay said, his tone and his face expressionless.

"Is that what you _heard_?" Paris said mockingly. "You know, Commander, you can take what you _heard _and take it somewhere else because I'm not interested."

"Lieutenant," Chakotay said a bit impatiently, "what, exactly, is your problem? I have tried figuring that out for the last few weeks and more importantly, for the last couple of days."

Paris stood up, and for the first time, Chakotay detected a surging of anger on Paris's face.

"I've told you what my problem is," Paris said, walking close to the force field and staring Chakotay down. "My problem is _you_, and everyone else on this ship who doesn't show an ounce of respect for me. You don't give me an opportunities for advancement, and all anyone ever does is talk about me behind my back. I've had it. Do you hear me? I've had it. I knew as soon as Captain Janeway asked me on this mission that it was a mistake, and I should have listened to my gut."

Paris calmed down a bit and returned to his seat, placing two fingers of his left hand to his forehead and rubbing it as if he had a headache.

"Here's the problem, _Lieutenant_," Chakotay said, placing stern emphasis on Paris's rank. "There really is nothing that we can do to deal with this. You certainly can't be a member of this crew if you don't want to be, but you haven't done anything to warrant being kept in the Brig for seventy-five years, either. How do you suggest we handle this?"

"I'd like to speak to the Captain, please," Paris said quietly.

Chakotay said nothing. He simply stood on the other end of the force field and stared at Paris intently. He could not believe Paris's lack of respect, his insubordination. He had thought that since they had met about a year and a half ago, they had developed a respectful relationship, one of trust and understanding, despite their differences. However, Chakotay wasn't sure anymore. The past few weeks seemed to strongly suggest that either the respect that Paris had shown over the past year and a half was a pretense, or something had happened to change Paris's attitude, and _that _was what Chakotay couldn't understand.

Paris shot Chakotay an infuriated glance. "Now!"

Chakotay nodded slightly and turned around, leaving the room. He headed for the Captain's Ready Room with a sullen disposition.

"Come in," Chakotay heard Janeway said. With that, he entered her Ready Room and hesitated.

"What is it, Commander?" Janeway asked. The crew hadn't encountered anything that warranted a great deal of attention for a couple of days, so apart from those, such as Ensign Harry Kim, friend of Paris, who were vehemently concerned about Paris's behavior, the crew was, more or less, at ease, and Janeway was not currently required on the Bridge, nor was Chakotay.

"Captain, it's about Paris," Chakotay said slowly. "He isn't cooperating with me, but he would like to speak with you."

Janeway's eyes scrunched into a furrowed gaze of deeply rooted concern, the way that they always did when something impacted her emotionally. Chakotay never told her so, but he had a great deal of respect for Janeway. She was Captain of a starship stranded from home in another quadrant of the galaxy, with currently no hope of getting her crew home any sooner than approximately seventy-five years, and that was a job that most captains would take incredibly seriously, and while Janeway did, indeed, take her position very seriously, she somehow managed to also express a humanity that he, himself, couldn't perfect. After being leader of his crew of Maquis members for so long, he found it difficult to drop his guard and express himself not just as a team leader but as a fatherly figure; Janeway didn't seem to have that problem.

She stood from her chair. "Now?"

"Yes, in fact, that is the very word that he used," Chakotay replied.

Janeway nodded and walked out from behind her desk. "I'll see what I can do," she said. "Thank you, Commander."

He nodded curtly and followed closely behind her as she exited her Ready Room, but he could tell from the way that Paris had spoken to him that he probably wouldn't open up if he were in the room with the Captain. He decided to head to the Bridge instead, and about a half-hour later, he received a message from Janeway asking him to return to her Ready Room. He did so.

"Commander," she began, "I have made a decision, one that you may not agree with, but I believe that it is in everyone's best interest."

Chakotay nodded. "I'm listening, Captain."

"I have decided to allow Lieutenant Paris some time to think in the comfort of his quarters," she said in closure. "There is clearly a deeply-rooted issue that spending more time in the Brig is not going to solve. Let's give him a few days on his own, see if he comes around on his own."

Chakotay felt like grunting, but he kept it to himself.

"Captain," he instead reasoned, "I would like to point out to you the example that we are setting for other officers. Paris has been late to shifts. He has been outwardly disrespectful, disobedient. If we allow him to return to the crew, we are not only telling him that his behavior is tolerable but others, as well."

"I realize that," Janeway admitted, frowning, "but we don't have many options, Commander. I realize that I leave you responsible for crew discipline, but we can't leave him in the Brig for the remainder of our journey. It is my hope that some time to think about his recent actions will do Lieutenant Paris some good, and it has already been arranged. Tuvok has returned him to his quarters."

Chakotay couldn't say that he fully agreed with the Captain's decision, nor could he deny that he was interested to know what she and Paris had said to each other, but he kept quiet and nodded. After a few seconds of silence, he voiced another concern.

"I just wish that I understood what happened to him," he said sadly. "He keeps saying that it was a mistake to come aboard Voyager, but this behavior only started a few weeks ago. It's like something snapped in him."

"Maybe, he just needs your help finding his animal spirit," she said, allowing a small smirk to appear on her face, but Chakotay wasn't amused. "As I said, Commander, Lieutenant Paris may just need time to himself. We're all under quite a bit of pressure."

Again, Chakotay nodded. "I hope that's all it is, Captain," he said, "because Paris is the best pilot we have on this ship. We can't afford to lose him."

Another look of deep concern spread across Janeway's face, and although he didn't betray it, he was very concerned himself. He let himself out of the Captain's Ready Room, and when he was out of her sight, he let out a deep, exasperated sigh, and since it was getting late and his shift was at a close, he headed to his quarters for the night, trying not to worry about what the future held.


End file.
